Beijing real estate market warming up: analysts

BEIJING -- Real estate developers' appetite for land bids seems to have recovered, as home sales grew in the Chinese capital more than one year after unprecedented tightening policies were introduced to control the property market, market analysts said.

Two land bids hit high points on Tuesday. In the southern suburb of Daxing, a 53,870-square-meter plot was auctioned for 2.2 billion yuan ($346 million), according to the Beijing Land Reserve Center, a government body in charge of public land management.

The consortium that won the bid said it will develop the land for residential housing and supplemental commercial space normally reserved for shops, restaurants and offices.

In the city's remote northern suburbs, where property prices are low, another plot of primary residential land covering 113,816 square meters was auctioned for 428 million yuan. Developers said they were enthusiastic to bid on the land because of its large size, a statement from the center said.

The bids came just one week after a record-breaking residential land bid - 2.63 billion yuan for a 38,900-square-meter plot in Haidian district, home to the Zhongguancun tech business zone.

"The demand for top-rated land has grown as developers recover from cash shortages after a surge in home sales," said Zhang Dawei, a chief market analyst with Zhongyuan Real Estate, a property agent.

"The property market, particularly in Beijing's most sought-after locations, is expected to recover," Zhang said, adding that the market in less-than-ideal locations will remain sluggish.

Beijing's real estate market has cooled down after the government implemented a variety of credit and tax policies, restricted purchases of second or third homes in some cities and launched massive subsidized housing projects for low-income residents. But there have been signs of growth in recent weeks with increasing land sales.

Premier Wen Jiabao vowed on July 7 that the government will resolutely implement real estate market regulations and make it a long-term task to curb speculation in the property sector.